A 23-year-old man is suspected of stealing a Kansas Highway Patrol vehicle and leading officers on a chase with speeds topping 100 mph -- while handcuffed behind his back.
Investigators are trying to determine how the suspect, Joshua D. Swartwout of Naples, Florida, managed to get behind the wheel of the patrol car & drive it more than 30 miles without the use of his hands.
"As a high-speed pursuit driving instructor for 20 years, I can only assume he was using his knees," Tod Hileman, a spokesman for the Kansas Highway Patrol said.
The Houdini-like escape unfolded just after noon on Saturday as a trooper was transporting Swartwout to a detention facility after he had been arrested on suspicion of auto theft following an earlier pursuit.
Hileman said the patrol car was not equipped with a rear-seat cage or a partition.
"He was being transported in the front seat of the car," Hileman said.
While on Highway 25, the trooper witnessed a serious motorcycle crash & pulled over to help, leaving Swartwout alone in the patrol car.
While the trooper was assisting the crash victim, Swartwout, who was handcuffed behind his back, scooted over into the driver's seat & drove off.
Hileman said the chase topped 100 mph on a stretch he described as a narrow two-lane highway with ditches on both sides.
The chase continued & headed west toward the Kansas-Colorado border. As the pursuit reached Edson, Kansas, roughly 30 miles from where it began, the stolen patrol car ran out of gas.
"The suspect, who was still handcuffed behind his back, fled on foot but was quickly apprehended," a statement reads.
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Source: ABC News
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